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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22369300">Something Magnificent</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cminerva/pseuds/cminerva'>cminerva</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Ice Skating, Vulnerability</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 12:26:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,795</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22369300</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cminerva/pseuds/cminerva</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil and Melinda on the ice, across the decades.</p><p>Written for the Quakeriderwritersguild Valentine’s Day Challenge. Prompt: Philinda + First Time Ice Skating.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Phil Coulson &amp; Melinda May, Phil Coulson/Melinda May</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>61</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>QuakeriderValentine'sDay</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Something Magnificent</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Slight canon divergence towards the end. (Spoilers: no Tahiti trip because Phil's not dying, yay!) </p><p>A millions thanks to hereforthephilindafics for serving as my beta and soundingboard!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Phil hadn’t told her where they were going, just that he had an idea for a day trip that would get them off campus for a bit on one of the few free weekends they had in common. When they parked in the lot for the indoor skating rink a few towns over from SHIELD Academy,  Melinda realized his intention and inhaled sharply.</p><p>Phil grinned, oblivious to her reaction, and Melinda forced a quick smile before following him inside.</p><p>“So you’ll probably find this hard to believe,” Phil began, “but despite growing up in Wisconsin I never really learned to skate. My parents took me out a few times when I was a kid but when all my classmates were joining the hockey team, I was more interested in working on my dad's car and reading comics.”</p><p>Melinda rolled her eyes. </p><p>“Have you ever done this before?” Phil asked, glancing up as he tied his laces.</p><p>“Uh, a time or two.” Melinda shrugged her shoulders as she tried to keep her answer vague.</p><p>Phil noticed the lackluster response and frowned.</p><p>“Are you sure you want to do this? We don’t have to, we could-”</p><p>Melinda glanced up at his concerned face and rushed to reassure him.</p><p>“It’s fine. I'm just thinking about how many times I’ll have to pick your ass up off the ice.” </p><p>“Probably quite a few,” he said with a grin, not looking the least bit embarrassed at the idea.</p><p>Phil was so focused on staying upright as he entered the rink that he missed the confidence in Melinda’s step and the small smile that rose to her lips at that first rasp of her skates touching ice. </p><p>Melinda kept a close eye on Phil as he made his way nervously around the wall, and not just out of concern for his safety; he was wearing jeans today. She rarely saw him in denim and she had to admit, it suited him. The jeans weren't tight, but it was clear enough that Phil had strong thighs and a great ass. A great ass that was going to be thoroughly bruised if she didn't stay close to catch him when he inevitably fell.</p><p>After a few tentative shuffles that didn’t result in him flat on his back, Phil looked over his shoulder and gave Melinda a quick thumbs up.</p><p>“So far so good,” he said. Melinda smiled and lengthened her stride so that she could skate beside him.</p><p>“You’re pretty good at this,” Phil said, noting her easy movements.</p><p>Melinda shrugged.</p><p>“Just basic stuff.”</p><p>They moved slowly around the edge of the rink while Phil tried to figure out the basics of movement on the ice. Melinda could feel herself growing impatient, not with Phil, but with her own body. She could feel the urge to move more fully, to glide and spin and feel the power and speed she knew she was still capable of, even years after she’d given up competing. But she had made the decision not to tell anyone at the academy about her skill on the ice because she wanted to hold something back for herself in that world of spies where everyone’s life was open for exploitation. Her chest tightened a bit at the thought of giving up that secret now.</p><p>Phil wobbled dangerously and Melinda quickly grabbed his arm to steady him. He laughed nervously as he found his footing and instead of releasing him, Melinda held tighter to his arm and pulled him towards the middle of the rink.</p><p>“Are you sure this is a good idea?” </p><p>“Trust me, Phil.”</p><p>When they were far enough away from the other skaters, Melinda released Phil’s arm and took both of his hands instead.</p><p>“Follow me.”</p><p>Phil nodded and Melinda began to skate backwards, tugging him along as her legs did the work for both of them.</p><p>Melinda felt herself relax as she allowed herself to really move. Phil was watching her with a smile, but she could see a calculating look in his eyes that told her she was giving away more than she’d planned. She thought about the quiet satisfaction of having something that was just for her and then she thought about what it would feel like to share this with Phil. Phil, who knew how to hold a secret without turning it into a weapon. Who’d had her back since the first time they met and never once demanded more of her than she was willing to give, even when it became clear his heart was hers for the taking while hers was more carefully guarded. She pulled him over to the side of the rink so he could hold onto the wall. </p><p>“Wait here,” she said, and Phil shrugged as if asking where else could he possibly go.</p><p>Melinda took a deep breath and moved towards the empty center of the rink. She cast a final glance over her shoulder at Phil before speeding up and launching herself into a sudden spin; one leg connecting her to the ice, the other stretched out behind her. It felt different now, with a body designed for combat, but she remembered the exhilaration of this type of movement - movement that was just about her and what her body could do for its own sake, rather than what it could do in the service of a mission.</p><p>She had given up that freedom of movement for something else altogether; the ability to hurt, control, protect, to feel the power she carried inside her affect the outcome of something bigger than just her own life. Melinda had only experienced a taste of life beyond the Academy, but she knew she was made for it. Still, this feeling of pure exhilaration, free of pain or caution, drew her in and she threw herself into a more elaborate jump for the pure pleasure that it brought her.</p><p>Melinda lost herself for a bit and forgot to worry about what it could mean to release this part of herself into someone else’s care. She moved around the rink, relishing the sound of the blades on the ice and the feeling of power in her thighs, the dizzying anticipation and then elation of completing a jump. When she slowed down and came back to herself, she saw Phil watching her. His mouth was open and he looked at her as if she was something magnificent. She swallowed and worked to catch her breath. Maybe someday she would tell Phil he was something magnificent too. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Melinda hadn’t asked where they were headed when Phil had asked her to join him on a quick trip. The Earth was safe again, none of their agents were in mortal peril, and any destination that wasn’t that dingy lighthouse, or another goddamn spaceship, was where she wanted to be. </p><p>“Really, Phil?” Melinda glared at the sign for the skating rink and regretted not demanding more information about Phil’s plans for the day.</p><p>"What? It’s been a few years since we've done this.”</p><p>Melinda snorted. </p><p>“A few years is a bit of an understatement. Try somewhere between twenty and thirty.”</p><p>Phil shrugged.</p><p>“Then we’re overdue.”</p><p>“How do you know I can even skate on this leg?” she asked, gesturing towards the thigh that, just a few months previously, had been run through with a pipe.</p><p>Phil stared at her.</p><p>“I've seen you kill people with that leg in the time since you got that injury. I’m pretty sure it can support you on a cold surface.”</p><p>Melinda shook her head but couldn't completely hold back her smile. </p><p>“Fine,” she said, relenting and earning a satisfied grin from Phil. </p><p>A few seconds in the rink and it was clear that Phil had not gotten any practice in the decades since she’d first seen him on the ice. Despite his lack of proficiency he was in high spirits, content to shuffle slowly by the wall and laugh at every wobbly step.</p><p>Melinda smiled and shook her head as she watched him. She skated a bit further out than Phil was willing to risk but kept her movements slow, not confident in her own body the way she had been before their trip to space. </p><p>Phil may have skated the same way he did in his twenties, but that was one of the few things that had stayed the same. His hair was thinner, he’d put on a few pounds, and he would be the first to say he looked his age. He still looked great in jeans though, Melinda noted. And when she felt his eyes on her, she looked over to find a familiar expression on his face. That look of admiration that he wore when they were young, despite the fact that she hardly looked or moved the way she did that long ago day on the ice. The sap.</p><p>Her thigh ached as she moved, but it felt good to be here. Here alone with Phil of course, but also out on the ice, something familiar from a time before all the heartache and tragedy and constant fighting. Melinda took a deep breath to still her thoughts and began to move with purpose, her thigh stiff but still responsive as she fell into a faster rhythm. She made one full loop around the rink before attempting a gentle spin supported by her good leg. She wobbled on the blade of her skate as her body resisted the movement, but she righted herself just in time. She felt a surge of frustration as her body resisted her demands yet again, but when she glanced towards the wall where she knew Phil had been resting she saw him watching her with a smile.</p><p>“It’s not the same,” she said, skating closer. “I can’t ask my body to do what it used to.”</p><p>Phil shook his head.</p><p>“I see the same woman, still fierce and determined to have her way. And all these years later I know you’ll still save my ass from falling onto the ice.”</p><p>Melinda laughed and pushed herself forward so that she slid neatly into Phil’s arms.</p><p>“Well it’s a pretty nice ass,” she said, reaching down to give his ass a quick squeeze. “I don't want anything to happen to it.”</p><p>She could feel the rumble of laughter where her cheek pressed against his chest. She let herself be held for a moment before she pulled away and looked up to meet his gaze.</p><p>“I think we’re old, Phil.”</p><p>“I think you’re right. That’s actually pretty impressive, considering our line of work.”</p><p>Melinda hummed in agreement then grabbed Phil’s hands in hers and tugged him away from the wall.</p><p>“Come on, old man,” she said. “I think it’s time I teach you how to skate.”</p>
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